Wonderland Was Never Enough
by Juu-Kun
Summary: Kat, in similarity to Alice, fell down the Rabbit Hole and upon wandering met Juu. Now they must not only find a way out of Wonderland, but also uncover Juu's past and keep themselves alive as they are hunted by those Juu presumably once counted as friend
1. Chapter One

Wonderland Was Never Enough

Kat Yoh, property of Kat Reverie.

Wonderland and all of it's merry denizens, property of the deceased Lewis Carroll (AKA Charles Dodgeson)

All else in this story, which includes but is not limited to: The plot, original characters, and the designs I have given the characters created by Lewis Carroll, are copyright myself, Anthony Castellano, Juu-Kun.

Chapter One:

"This is _ridiculous_." Kat sighed, frustrated with it all as she walked through the thick forest, keeping to the path biblically. "First I follow that absolutely impossible White Rabbit, and fall through his blasted hole…Next thing I know I'm in this place. I swear if that stupid Rabbit hadn't goaded me into following him," She complained as she walked, unaware that having been in Wonderland was starting to affect her way of thinking. In reality the innocent White Rabbit hadn't done a thing to convince her to follow him through the Rabbit Hole, and actually hadn't the foggiest idea that she was following him.

Yet that's what happens when you visit Wonderland…your common sense is the first thing to go, if you even have any for following a talking rabbit into it's hole, which on the whole is a _very_ stupid thing to do. However, we must continue on, or else we shall forever leave Kat standing in the forest, complaining about the White Rabbit.

She continued walking, her flowing red hair almost completely matted with leaves and branches, so much so that once or twice in her search for the way out a bird had tried to nest. Her once-beautiful sky blue dress had been ripped in numerous places, exposing slightly tanned skin and slight whispers of scars, "This stupid forest is never going to end, is it?"

This was when the forest seemed to finally get fed up with her complaining, and upon the path a sign appeared. Well, that is what she said when she retold the story to anyone that would listen. In truth, she just had impeccable timing. The sign was bare, though shaped like an arrow. It pointed down a narrow path, at the end of which she could see a small pool of water. With determination, she set off down this path, only now realizing how thirsty she was.

In no time at all, she had reached the pool of water, which was surrounding by a clearing. The trees here were all cut down to stumps, save one in the center. Around this, there were several signs, pointing directions out to different locations. Some of the signs were either missing completely or half of the name had fallen off, yet there were two here that stood prominent. In the center of the clearing, the water was as reflective as glass, thus hiding from her anything that would be below the surface.

One read 'TO THE MARCH HARE', and the other 'TO THE MAD HATTER'. "Well…I've already seen a hare before, but I really wouldn't like to be around anyone that's mad…Oh, what will I do?" She sat down before the pool of water, staring at her reflection. "I guess I will just go to the March Hare," She looked idly off to the path shown, when suddenly a voice came as if from nowhere, the very tone seeming to drip with malice.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," It echoed off the trees eerily, causing Kat to jerk around and look for the cause of the voice.

"Who's there?" She called into the infinite darkness.

"Who's where?" The voice answered back, teasing. Kat thrust her head about more, until settling it upon her reflection again with frustration. Her eyes opened wide with shock as the voice came again. "No matter where you go, you _will _run into someone that is mad." The voice was coming from her reflection!

"But the Mad Hatter lives _that_ way!" She pointed off down a separate path, frustration beginning to show in her voice.

"Yes, but my dear girl, everyone here's mad. The Mad Hatter's mad. The March Hare's mad. I'm mad. Even you're mad." Her reflection laughed, a chilling, disembodied laugh.

"How do you know I'm mad?"

"Well, if you weren't mad, you wouldn't have come here now would you?" They, whoever they were, did have a point.

"Well, how come you're mad then?"

"I'm trying to talk some sort of sense into a madwoman, aren't I? For we have already made it positive that you ARE mad. And everyone knows that only the crazy ones will attempt to talk anything sensible to a mad person." Her reflection grinned, a grin that threatened to swallow it whole for it was so large. And swallow it did! Before she could wonder how a grin could be so large, her reflection was swallowed up into the mouth, leaving behind a quite different image.

Lying in the water in place of her reflection was one of the oddest crossbreeds, if you could call it that (for it _is_ what he looked like), Kat had ever seen. He possessed the body of a man, however he had a purple tail along with matching catlike ears and claws. His silvery hair was spread out in the water like so many spider webs, rippling with the slight wind that passed overhead. Blood red eyes penetrated her as he stared, slowly rising. His head came first, completely dry despite the fact he had just been engulfed in water. Following quickly was his body, which proceeded to defy gravity and sit atop the pool. "So, who are you?" He asked, a wide grin upon his face.

"Well, you know, I'm not quite sure!" Kat protested, holding her head in her hands. "I think when that stupid Rabbit lead me down here my name was Kat, but now I just can't be sure! Everything's all wrong, and nothing is as it should be. I mean, look at you! You're half man, half cat!" She spoke slowly as tears fell to the ground.

"No, I'm not." He grinned that wide, almost sinister, grin again, "I'm a can…or a mat, I haven't decided yet." He mused to himself.

"But you most certainly don't look like a can, or a mat at all!" Kat remarked.

"And you don't look like a cat," He stood, walking onto land and holding out a claw. "Come on, then, get up." She took the offered claw, being pulled up.

"But you see I'm _not_ a cat! That's my name, Kat! K-A-T!" She looked at the thing before her stubbornly.

"Whatever you say…if that means anything here," He spoke calmly, his eyes wandering to the forest.

"Why would it mean nothing?" Kat asked.

"Because, dear, you're in _Wonderland_. Everything that should be, isn't, and everything that shouldn't be, is." The…thing, for lack of a better name, explained.

"Wonderland? Where's that on the map?" Kat had studied geography her whole life, yet the name escaped her.

"A map? Never heard of one of those before. Wouldn't need one, neither. Wonderland is all that there is. I remember dreams of a different place. With tall buildings, and lots of people…people a lot like you. Creations that brought people places, and did stuff for them. Even creations that could talk! But that's all they were: dreams."

"But they _weren't_ dreams, you see! You're thinking of the real world!" Kat argued.

"The real world?" He shook his head, "No, this is the world, real, fake, or otherwise. There is nowhere else."

"But I didn't come from here! I know there was somewhere else!" Kat tried to reason, albeit it was to him just the word of a madwoman.

"I didn't come from here either, I don't think. Or at the least, I used to think that. Now I don't know anymore. Everything's just a blur."

"Are you saying, you don't belong here?" Kat asked.

"No. Obviously I _belong_ here, and so do you, or else we wouldn't be here. What I'm saying is that I don't come from here…I don't think," He shook his head, "I don't know!"

"Well, look, then, we've been talking and I still don't know who you are. What's your name?" She asked as he regained his composure.

"Juu." He didn't seem quite focused on his answer as he stared off to a path.

The name struck Kat as familiar…she knew a Juu. Or did. Maybe that was all just a dream, she couldn't be sure. "So, which way are we to go, if we don't want to visit the March Hare or the Mad Hatter?"

Juu jerked his head behind him, "Come this way. Sixir will know what to do!" He began running off without warning towards a path that hadn't been there before. It was all Kat could do to run after him and keep him in her sight as he dodged past trees and over bushes, for what seemed like hours…when at last, they stopped. Juu had stopped suddenly, turning around to motion for Kat to stop.

She didn't get the motion in time however, for she quickly came running into Juu, knocking him over. The two fell to the ground together, Kat on top of Juu. They were inches away from each other when Juu noticed the awkwardness of it all.

"Oh…sorry," Kat mumbled, standing up and looking down to her dress. She had run with it, she had searched through the forest with it…now it was nothing more than mere shreds, barely covering her body. She reached her hand out to help Juu up as he replied.

"Don't worry about it," Juu assured her, looking around. They were in a graveyard, and Juu's head had just barely missed smashing itself open upon a tombstone. It was akin to a giant maze of tombs and crypts, with not a soul in sight…not that one could see far with all the heavy mist setting on. Kat turned around to look into the forest, to reveal the clearing they had been in not ten meters away.

"How could that be? We've been running for hours!" Kat exclaimed, bits of annoyance staining her voice, at which Juu laughed.

"Time works differently in Wonderland. You'll get used to it." Juu walked forward into the mist, somehow navigating around the plentiful tombstones. Kat, however, was not so graced as she tripped every couple of steps, being saved from falling by a quick grab from Juu. Soon (Or soon as we would think it. It had actually taken quite a long time) the two came upon a crypt with an open door. Juu lead the way in, where among the bones sat a woman.

She was quite lithe, beauty hanging in the air all around her. Vibrant blue eyes moved to look at them, although the rest of her body did not. Long blonde hair sprung from her head, flowing like a long blanket down around her on the floor. "Juu, it's great to see you again," She managed out.

"Sixir," Juu kneeled before her, so that their eyes were level. "I know you have said for so long that my dreams of a different place on just that, dreams. But you must help me now. This girl right here, her name is Kat. She seems to think of the same place that I dream of. She claims she has come from there! I know you are holding something from me, Sixir. I want the truth."

Sixir merely shook her head, at which Juu placed his hand on her shoulder, "Come on, Sixir! You know magicks that haven't been practiced in millennia. I know that if you do not know more than me, then you can use your magicks and find the truth." He then realized something. His hand was wet. He removed it to reveal blood thick on his hand, as if painted. He moved Sixir's hair to the side so he could examine her neck.

He had realized all too late the fatal wound on his friend, and the bulky man standing in the shadow.


	2. Chapter Two

Wonderland Was Never Enough

Chapter One:

Juu's eyes snapped to the corner just as the man came upon them, swinging a heavy fist towards Kat. Before it could connect Juu thrust his own body into Kat's, effectively knocking her away and taking the blow himself.. His neck lashed to the side as he was stuck, slowly moving his head to glance back at the man, whose knuckles were slowly bleeding. "Did you forget already, Wykeed?" Juu grinned mischievously, rearing his head back before smashing it into Wykeed's. "Did you forget why it was I, not you, who led us to become so much?" This came out much differently than his normal speech. His voice was more of an aristocratic, calm manner now, with only a slight tinge of venom shining through the mask.

As he stumbled backwards from the impact, Wykeed seemed stunned for long enough to give Kat her first look at him. His skin was a dark tone, thus explaining why he hadn't stuck out immediately upon entering, paired with dull, gray clothing that was covered in soot and dirt. He was bald, and his black eyes were glazed over, as if looking back at the past. In those moments, a question came to Kat's mind: _The best of what?_

Just seconds later, Juu was asking himself the same thing.

It seemed to be an eternity before Wykeed and Juu broke off their deadly stares, blood slowly leaking from their foreheads. Juu's tongue emerged from his mouth to catch a few droplets as they fell, yet Wykeed refused to divert his attention from Juu and let the blood drip down his face.

This time it was Juu who lunged forward, his fist connecting with Wykeed's cheekbone, or...where it should have been. In the moments before his blow would have landed, Wykeed's head seemed to compress itself into a small shape so to narrowly avoid the blow. Juu's eyes let loose only a small fraction of the surprise that hit him when he saw this before he pressed on, strike after strike. Each time he seemed to narrowly miss what would have been easy hits. In a quick change of tactic, Juu grabbed hold of Wykeed's left arm, moving with a swift momentum to bring his arm back to a position that would have normally broken the bone.

Instead, the arm twisted with Juu, turning in a way that would normally be impossible. Juu stared at it for only a fraction of a second in disbelief before the arm shrunk in diameter to slither from his grasp and straighten itself again. Upon returning to its full size, Kat noticed that Wykeed's arm was lined slightly with blood, as if he had been cut severely by so many knives. Yet…she could see no cuts.

Wykeed twisted around now to face Juu, slamming his knee into his gut. As he keeled over, Wykeed leaned down to wrap his arms around Juu's body. They seemed to extend, wrapping like two titanic serpents around the man's body, threatening to suffocate him. Juu was held just inches above the ground, a tranquil stare still present in his eyes, as if without worry. He hid a smug smirk as he glanced at the blood that layered Wykeed's arms. Without warning, he thrust his head back to slam it into Wykeed's...

But he made contact with nothing. Kat watched as Juu's head went backwards and at the same time, Wykeed's own made itself more compact, as if the bones collapsed inward to avoid being struck. Juu slowly brought his head up again, and as he did Wykeed's face reconstructed itself, bone by bone. "No more playing…" Juu muttered to himself, thrusting his body again yet this time it was forward, not backward. With the movement, he sent Wykeed off of his back and slamming into the wall. As the building shuddered upon impact, Juu looked at Kat.

"Back to the clearing, find the path to the Mad Hatter. He'll know what to do," The malice within his voice was back fully, the words coming out almost as a hiss.

As Wykeed slowly helped himself up, Kat understood that Juu needed her out of there. Though she wanted to help him, she nodded and slipped out of the crypt, heading back in the way they came. The fog had lifted now, so when she got far enough away she was able to look back and see the two fighting. They were locked in a fierce battle of pure strength, sending blows back and forth. She could not see it, but Wykeed's chest and face were both almost completely torn apart by Juu's claws. This wasn't enough…somewhere in the back of her mind, she was still being told to run. Thus, run she did. Away from there, back towards the pool of water where she had met Juu.

Juu grabbed hold of Wykeed's arm, spinning to toss him at the wall again. Another shudder. In swift response, Wykeed bound off the wall and ran headfirst into Juu's gut. He felt the brick meet in an unfriendly manner with his back, just before the bricks descended atop the both of them, covering them

As she returned many hours later, she collapsed next to the water, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Oh…what am I to do? I know I was just doing as I was told…but I just left the only person I've met so far in combat with someone who will surely kill him…and, oh my, what was wrong with that gentleman's body? How was he able to command his bones in such a fashion as to collapse his skull and rebuild it? And Juu…he made that man bleed without even cutting him. Oh dear, this is such a dreary and dismal place!" She stared with despair at the sign that read 'TO THE MAD HATTER'. Kat stood slowly, stumbling only once in her attempt, deciding to go along with Juu's advice. "He will explain things to me when he comes to meet me, I am sure of it. If he does not, then I will not go with him…" Yet she knew that was a lie. Part of her would always trust him, though at the time she knew not why.

She started down the path, deciding that as soon as she could she would find something else to wear. Whatever she could find, actually. She was deep in thought, thinking about whether any clothes fashioned for the animalistic Juu would fit her, when suddenly she felt a bag tossed about her head.

Thin as paper, Wykeed's body slithered out between the bricks to rest on the ground. Slowly he expanded to normal size, seemingly undamaged by the event aside from the mysterious blood drawn by Juu. He turned to the wreckage and kneeled down, tossing bricks everywhere as he dug deep in. Before long he saw one of Juu's claws, groping at the air as if looking for something to hoist himself out. Wykeed proceeded to unbury him, reaching out a hand to lift Juu up.

He kneeled before the Mat (Or was he a Can?) calmly, "What is your next command, my Master?" Wykeed's eyes looked up soullessly to Juu, upon whose face a smirk etched itself maniacally, eyes gleaming.

There were voices, three of them. One of them was definitely male, a second was also male but had a sort of inhuman sound to it (Why didn't that surprise her?), and the third was abnormally high pitched, which only merited the smallest surprise from her. Kat's eyes fluttered open to see a man staring at her with chestnut brown eyes, matched with short gray hair that stuck out from beneath his tall top hat. The hat itself must have at least been a meter long, checkered with squares of dark crimson and black. His hands, which were fixing a cup of tea, were thin and knobby. The man's arms were abnormally long for someone of his height.

Next to him was a hare of sorts. His tan ears flopped out underneath a golden-tinted top hat that was considerably shorter than the other man's. He had wide blue eyes, paired off with whiskers that curled back in a sinister sort of fashion. He studied Kat intently, so focused that after just seconds of seeing him she became uncomfortable...but, wait, hadn't there been three voices?

"Would you like a cup of tea?" The man, whom by now Kat had assumed to be the 'Mad Hatter', asked. He leaned over to make it before waiting for an answer, and Kat saw that there was no top on his hat, which was ironic in a way, it being a top hat and all.

She was about to respond with a soft-spoken 'Yes, please', when she noticed a small mouse sitting on her chest.

Juu looked at Wykeed, nodding slowly, "Stand, my pet," His hand reached down to slowly guide him up with what would have been his index finger had he possessed human hands. As Wykeed stood, he was oblivious to the steady stream of blood falling from his chin.

"Take a rest, Wykeed," Juu muttered calmly, an almost kindly tone, placing his finger lightly on Wykeed's throat. Blood slowly seeped out before Wykeed collapsed to the ground, his heart having stopped. "You've outstayed your welcome." As he spoke, his voice slowly reverted yet again, become harsher.

Juu sat in a clearing near Wykeed's body silently, a dumbfounded look on his face. He held up one of his claws with interest in his eyes, running it down the side of his face lightly. He pressed his paw against his cheek immediately after, feeling no blood. "Why is it...that I could make him bleed by touching him, yet nothing comes from my skin now?" His head was flooded with questions, so much so that the mental him was wading through a chest-high pool of words. This wading occasionally messed up the order of the words, so that when Juu asked himself his last question of the night, it came out as "What of the was best I?" instead of "What was I the best of?" when questioning his words to Wykeed earlier that night.

He watched the moon rise and slowly set as he sat in the clearing, questioning his very existence and what had gotten him there.

Kat's eyes fluttered open with a yawn, instantly widening with a start when she didn't recognize her surroundings. Before she knew it she was sitting up, rigid as stone, slowly remembering the events of the day before. The Mad Hatter and his companion the March Hare, whom Juu had sent her to stay with, had captured her in the forest. They also had some sort of 'pet', if you will, although going by what else she had seen in Wonderland she couldn't be too sure that the Dormouse was not the father of the Mad Hatter and March Hare.

She found the Dormouse sleeping in a tea cup, with the March Hare lazily slumped over a chair in the corner in a position that would have been quite very uncomfortable had she tried it, so she had no idea how he could manage it. It was only now that she noticed she had spent the night sleeping on their long table, surrounded by tea cups and pots. In her sleep, she had upset quite a few cups of sugar and jam, which now thoroughly coated her left hand (She wouldn't notice the mustard in her hair until later that evening, although for quite a while after that she would wonder what mustard was doing at a tea party in the first place).

Kat slowly slid off of the table soundlessly, eyes glancing to the forest past a gate. She slunk over to the gate, quiet as a mouse (if you excuse the irony). Her hand had just settled upon the gate when a voice spoke up behind her. "Oh, I don't think you'll get out that way," The voice echoed into her ear as if far off, yet she could feel a presence standing right behind her. The rich, flowing voice of the Mad Hatter was right behind the breathing that beat upon her neck.

Turning in a fluid motion, Kat laid eyes on the Mad Hatter again. "And why is that?" She questioned, crossing her arms.

"Because this place, this garden, is on a completely different plane of existence from the rest of Wonderland." The Mad Hatter responded, talking effortlessly yet it seemed he did not open his mouth.

"Then how could you get out to catch me, or how could Juu come to get me here if he wanted to send me to you?" Kat pushed on with even more questions, as was usual for an inquisitive girl like herself.

"Those with power can cross the barrier," The Hatter responded, lifting up his left arm while at the same time using his right to roll up the sleeve. Etched into his skin was a clock, although instead of numbers it was inscribed with symbols, which also lined all around the clock. "Juu is an exceptionally powerful Mat --"

"Can," came the snoozing voice of the Dormouse in an interruption.

"An exceptionally powerful **Mat**, although what that power is, is unknown. I myself am a master of Time Magic, and can thus pass through the barrier. I can bring whomever I wish with me either way, but only those with power may go freely." The Hatter finished his explanation before giving out a wicked smile, "You simply cannot leave until Juu comes to collect you."

"Oh, great," Kat muttered to herself, her eyes settling upon the Mad Hatter's right hand, which was heavily bandaged. "If you don't mind my asking...what happened to your hand? I meant to ask last night but it slipped my mind."

The Mad Hatter glanced at his hand slightly, "I don't know, exactly. I went to bed one night, about five days ago, completely fine. I woke up with my palm bleeding profusely, so I bandaged it. Things like that happen to me and the March Hare all the time, really."

Kat raised an eyebrow in suspicion as she sat upon a chair in defeat, knowing she could only wait until her doom finally came for her, brought by one insane, lying, murderous dooms mat.

That evening, Juu slid into Kat's room gracefully, eyes darting to where she sat on the bed, her own green eyes locked on the doorway in which he stood. "Good evening, Kat." He said casually, moving to take a seat.

"Good evening," She replied, a bit more stiffly than was necessary, blocking the seat as she spoke. "Juu, I want answers. What _was_ that, back there with Wykeed?"

Juu frowned, looking down and away from her in shame. "I don't know. Something came over me. Like you, I do not remember who I was before I came to Wonderland aside from my name. I was _something_, that's for sure, and apparently I was the best. I know just as much about myself as you do, Kat." His eyes met with hers for that last statement, and within those eyes there was not a shimmer of a doubt that he was speaking the truth.

"I don't want to trust you. I barely even know you. Yet…part of me tells me you're trustworthy, and you would never lie to me. I don't know how true that is, but I have always lived on instinct." Kat said warily, wondering where this 'instinct' came from.

"May I sit down?" He motioned to the spot on the bed next to her.

She nodded, watching him carefully sit besides her while leaning his back against the wall before she spoke. "Tell me, because it has been worrying me...Is the Dormouse the father of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare?"

He looked at her with a look of pure bewilderment, "I think you've gotten a little _too_ wrapped up in Wonderland. That is pure nonsense. The March Hare is the Hatter's familiar, and the Dormouse is his older brother."

"...This gets weirder by the minute," Kat sighed, leaning against Juu's body. When she noticed that he gave no resistance, she adjusted herself to be more comfortable while resting her head in the crook of his neck.

He let out a smile she didn't see before letting out a slight sniff and glancing at her hair, "Uhm...Kat?"

"Yes?"

"...Why do you have mustard in your hair?"


End file.
